WEEKLY EDITION OCT 25, 2017
EPA Rule Changes May Affect Fuel
Costs
New regulations may affect biodiesel processes and prices
The Trump Administration has proposed cutting biofuel
mandates, which could cause price hikes for the trucking
industry. Passed in 2005 under George W. Bush, The
Renewable Fuel Standard requires biofuels be blended
with our fuel supply. When convenience stores and truck
stop owners blend biofuels to create biodiesel they can sell the fuel at a lower price; weakening those
mandates, therefore, will have the opposite effect. Says David Fialkov, from the National Association of Truck
Stop Owners, "If the EPA discourages us from blending biodiesel in a manner that raises the price of fuel,
invariably we will blend less biodiesel, which will raise the cost of fuel. Truckers will continue to drive, but just
pay more." As well as cost concerns there is the issue of gaining work contracts. Glen Kedzie of the American
Trucking Association explains that companies compete for business by calculating labor costs and placing
bids. The lower bidder gets the job. However, "You better be pretty accurate in predicting what the price of
fuel will be" or much time and money will be lost. "We are very price sensitive to fuel. It's our lifeblood." The
EPA has until November 30th to finalize its regulations.
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From Paper to Pavement
How one Dutch company is using toilet paper to create
new bike paths
Is this asphalt or toilet paper? A new technology that turns
toilet paper waste into asphalt is being tested on a bike
path in the Netherlands, and despite the "yuk" factor,
residents are not complaining. Every year the Dutch tear
through 180,000 tons of toilet paper and two local
companies, CirTec and KNN Cellulose, have developed a way to convert the waste to roads. Cellulose is the
main ingredient in toilet paper and when filtered out of the waste it becomes a fluffy, pellet-like material that
can be used for bioplastics, building materials, and asphalt. It's cost-effective and just the type of business
model we can expect to see more of in the future. As CirTec's Managing Director, Carlijn Lahaye simply puts
it, "You remove something that is a burden in the waste treatment process plus you turn it into a high-value
product that you can sell." With 400kg of cellulose recovered a day they are able to export some to England
for the development of other products.
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aggregates news that appears in other sources. Unless otherwise stated in organizational documents or in
Association Insight newsletters, the PSAI does not have or take a position on the content of news items
from other sources.
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